One of the biggest art shows of the fall might be taking place in your neighborhood.
That’s because 10 public artworks commissioned by the Nasher Sculpture Center will be open to the public beginning Saturday. (Check out this great interactive graphic that shows the locations.)
The goal of Nasher XChange is for the Nasher to have an impact beyond its downtown space. KERA’s Stephen Becker reports that pieces will be located all over town: at Fish Trap Lake in West Dallas, in the Oak Cliff Gardens and Vickery Meadow neighborhoods, as well as at the University of Texas at Dallas and Dallas City Hall.
Only one of the pieces – a sound sculpture by New York artist Alfredo Jaar – will actually be located at the Nasher.
Los Angeles artist Ruben Ochoa’s piece, Flock in Space, is a concrete-and-steel sculpture that will be at the Trinity River Audubon Center. Ochoa says he’s referencing the wooded spot’s history as an illegal dumping ground.
“I just hope when the work gets installed, it doesn’t get dwarfed by the amazing blue skies and all the forest here,” he said this summer when he was in town to unveil plans for the piece. “I’m not interested in consuming the whole space but just being a part of the space.”
Letting everyone access art was championed by Ray Nasher, the sculpture center’s founder, who displayed some of his collection at NorthPark Center, the shopping mall he developed.
“Ray Nasher liked to say that, ‘art is for everybody.’ But the sad truth is: Not everyone gets to go to a museum,” Nasher director Jeremy Strick said. “More people have been exposed to significant art at NorthPark than anywhere else. Twenty-six million people a year go through it – more than double the attendance at the Louvre.”
XChange pieces will be on display through Feb. 16, 2014. XChange was discussed on KERA’s “Think” earlier this week.
